Why Me?
by BookLoverL
Summary: Rachel has just become the Oracle of Delphi. Now she's headed to Clarion Ladies' Academy to keep her promise to her father. How will she cope with life in finishing school?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. No profit will ever be made from this fanfic.

Rachel sighed. She'd just arrived home from Camp Half-Blood after becoming the Oracle, and now she was waiting for her father to meet her. Tomorrow she would go to Clarion Ladies' Academy, in accordance with her father's wishes, and she knew that her father would be expecting her to behave in an appropriate fashion.

"Rachel," her father stated as he entered the room. "I hope you are not planning to go back on your deal with me."

"Of course not, Father," Rachel replied cordially. "I'll go to Clarion as you wish. Just don't expect me to enjoy it."

"The purpose of finishing school is not enjoyment," he stated. "The purpose is to turn you into a marriageable young lady."

"I know that, Father," sighed Rachel. _He wishes,_ she thought._ A young lady, if I try to be one, maybe, but I'm never going to be _marriageable._ Hades, I'm never even going to date._

"Well, I hope you will remember it. Do not disappoint me," he ordered her. With that he left the room.

-----

The next day, Rachel set off in a chauffeured limo to the airport. From there she would fly to New Hampshire, and the dreaded finishing school. On the way to the airport, she saw a total of five dryads, a satyr, and two naiads. Some of them waved at her. _If only people knew,_ she thought.

Half an hour later, she finally arrived at the airport. She thanked the chauffeur and told him she'd be perfectly fine. He informed her that her father had ordered another chauffeur for after she reached New Hampshire. She told him to pass on her gratitude to her father, and left to check in. She was flying first class- her father would not allow anything less. She sighed- she'd much rather fly commercial, where there would actually be someone to talk to. At least there would be no-one around to accidentally trigger the Oracle. She didn't think 'Would you like some water?' counted as a question that the Oracle could answer, somehow. As long as nobody asked about the future, she'd be perfectly fine.

After making it through security, she boarded the plane, and settled down for the flight. She was glad Apollo wasn't an enemy of Zeus- she would have had a really hard time explaining to her father that she couldn't fly because a Greek god would hit the plane with a lightning bolt. She offered a prayer up to Zeus anyway, just to be safe.

The flight passed without incident, and after an hour the plane touched down in New Hampshire. After collecting her luggage, she made her way to where her chauffeur was waiting, and they set off for Clarion Ladies' Academy.

_Gods help me,_ she thought. _What have I let myself in for?_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter One. The same still applies.

The chauffeur drove her right up to the door. Mentally groaning (this was _so_ not cool), she thanked the chauffeur and got out of the limo, then stepped through the door and into the school. She strode up to the woman at the desk.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she stated, introducing herself. "I'm a new pupil."

"Let's see," said the woman at the desk in a formal tone. "Yes. Here we are. Your dorm will be Room A346. I believe there is already one resident of that dorm. Here is a schedule and a map. Your lessons will begin tomorrow. Enjoy your day."

"Thank you, Ms., ah…." Rachel replied.

"Miss Williams," the woman answered in a much friendlier tone of voice. "People rarely ask my name. They think I'm not important. Thank you."

"I'm glad to have made somebody happier," Rachel told her. She walked away from her desk and studied her map. Room A346 was on the third floor of the main dorm building. She navigated her way through the corridors, and eventually found her room.

On entering, she stopped, stunned. An entire half of the room was completely covered in pink. Surely there was no way that anyone could fit that much pink into such a small space. While she was staring at the sight, a slender brunette, about five foot tall with blue eyes and pale skin, entered the room from a small bathroom suite off to the side.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my dorm room?" the brunette asked.

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and according to the woman at the reception desk, I'm your new dorm mate," she answered, grateful that the question had not brought out the Oracle. She continued. "Who are you?"

"I'm Naomi Daniels," the brunette replied harshly. "If you're going to be my dorm mate, remember a few rules. Don't touch my stuff without asking, don't lock me out, don't claim to be prettier than me, and don't under any circumstances talk back to me."

"I'll remember as long as you respect me in a similar way," Rachel told her. _Great,_ she thought to herself. _I just have to get the room with the obsessive, self-centred control freak._ Naomi glared at her and went back into her bathroom. She set her belongings down on the non-pink bed, and noticed a small unlocked locker set into the wall. She opened it and discovered it was empty. _This is good,_ she thought. She placed her valuables, her art equipment, and those possessions that might embarrass her into the locker, changed the opening code, and locked the locker, and examined her schedule. On her schedule, she had Maths, English, French, Greek Mythology, Etiquette And Social Skills, Riding, and Archery. It had taken a lot of persuasion to get her father to let her study Greek Mythology instead of Textiles. She was glad for it- it would be a highlight in her day, and extremely useful in her circumstances (not that her father knew that, of course). She placed her clothes into her new wardrobe, and then opened the locker again and put in her school stationery. After she had finished unpacking, she took her pyjamas out of the wardrobe, got changed in a second bathroom off her side of the room, set an alarm, and went to bed, wondering what the new dawn would bring.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I am English, not American, and have never been to finishing school, so please excuse me if I get the school system wrong.

Disclaimer: Same as before. I also don't own any brands mentioned.

The next morning, Rachel awoke at 6:20 am to the sound of her alarm going off. She turned it off and went to get ready for breakfast, which was at 7 am. She noticed that Naomi was still asleep, but decided to leave her that way. It served her right for being a self-centred idiot if she overslept. After washing and dressing, she decided to sit on her bed for a while and enjoy the early morning peace.

Five minutes before breakfast, Naomi finally woke up. She glanced at the time, and an expression of fury formed on her face.

"You idiot!" she screamed. "Why didn't you wake me up? Now I don't have enough time to shower!"

"It's your lookout if you wake up late," Rachel told her calmly. "You never asked me to wake you up. Besides, my alarm went off at twenty past six, and if that didn't wake you up, I don't know what would've." She left the room to go and get breakfast.

Breakfast was in a large hall on the bottom floor of the dorm building. It turned out to be fairly good, with a selection of different cereals, as well as toast and croissants. She poured herself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of milk, and made herself a slice of toast. She wandered across to an empty space on a table.

"Could I please sit here?" she asked the girl sat next to the space. "I'm new."

"Sure," replied the girl, who was fairly short, with brown hair and green eyes. "I'm Emilia Foster, but mostly people just call me Emmy."

"Rachel Dare," replied Rachel, smiling. "I'm pleased to meet you, Emmy." She sat down and began to eat her breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naomi enter, looking distinctly disgruntled, and walk over to join some people who looked equally conceited.

"So," began Emmy, "what brings you to Clarion, Rachel?"

"My father's making me come," explained Rachel. "If I had a choice, I'd be painting, or talking to my friends from this summer camp I went to for a while this summer. You?"

"My mother claims that I _have _to become a proper young lady or no-one will ever look at me again," sighed Emmy. "Somehow I don't think that this is the only way to become an acceptable member of society, but I went along with her to keep the peace. I'm hoping I won't regret it."

"Same," answered Rachel.

"You know," mused Emmy, "you're lucky you met me first. From what I can gather, there are some people here who are complete idiots because they're so spoilt."

"I think I may have actually already met one of them. My roommate is Naomi Daniels," Rachel told her. Emmy winced in sympathy.

"I feel for you," she answered. "She's the worst of the lot. But you've got me now."

"Yes," said Rachel, and they settled down to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, they had about an hour before lessons started. Emmy suggested Rachel could come back to her dorm for a little while. "I'm in Room A350. My roommate Sara is almost as bad as Naomi," she explained, "but she usually heads over to your dorm."

"Sounds good," commented Rachel. "I'll go and get my things for the first couple of lessons, then I'll come straight over."

"I'll meet you there," answered Emmy.

Rachel went to collect the things she needed for Maths and English, since there wasn't a break between them. Luckily Naomi and her friend were still eating breakfast, so Rachel could collect her belongings in peace. She then got out her map and successfully made her way to Emmy's dorm. She knocked tentatively on the door. Emmy came to open it.

"Hey, Rachel!" Emmy greeted her. "Come in!" Rachel returned the greeting, and entered the room. Emmy guided her to her half of the room. The other half was entirely covered in lilac. Rachel grimaced at the sight of it. "I know," said Emmy, noticing her face. "It's terrible, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Rachel answered. "Did they never hear the word 'subtle'?" Emmy laughed, and began to explain to her how the school worked.

About seven minutes before the first lesson started, Emmy stood up, and suggested they head to the first lesson.

"You don't want to be late and make a bad impression on your first day," she explained. "Besides, in a couple of minutes, Sara will arrive so she can get her stuff ready, and I really don't feel like being glared at."

"Nor me," replied Rachel. "Let's get going." On that thought, they left the room to head to the Maths block.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry if my French is not quite correct. I used to do French at school, but I dropped it in favour of German, so I haven't done any French since about two years ago.

Disclaimer: I have not turned into Rick Riordan overnight. Therefore I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

They arrived in the Maths classroom about two minutes before the start of the first lesson. Emmy went to sit in a seat by a blonde girl with brown eyes. "We have allocated places," she explained to Rachel. "The empty seat is over there." Rachel headed over to the seat Emmy had pointed at. It was next to a tall, lanky girl with black hair and green eyes.

"Hi," began Rachel. "I'm Rachel Dare. Who are you?"

"I'm Fiona Stewart," the girl replied. "Pleased to meet you, Rachel."

"Same," answered Rachel. Then the teacher walked in to begin the lesson. She was fairly young, with light brown shoulder-length hair, and light green eyes. Everybody in the classroom stood to attention as she entered.

"Good morning, class," said the teacher cheerily.

"Good morning, Miss Lane," replied the class.

"Please be seated," Miss Lane continued. "Please open your books to page 112." She then proceeded to teach them about the trigonometry of non-right-angled triangles.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Miss Lane dismissed them, and they headed across to the English block. Emmy was in a different English group than Rachel, so she told Rachel to meet her in her dorm at break.

After Emmy had left, Rachel made her way into the English classroom. Looking around the room, she saw that Fiona was in her English group. There was an empty seat next to her, so Rachel went to sit in it. Unfortunately, Naomi was also in her English group. Rachel could see her chatting with her friends over in the corner of the room.

"Hey, Fiona," greeted Rachel.

"Hey, Rachel," replied Fiona. "You ought to watch out for the brunette in the corner. She's called Naomi and she's spoilt and mean."

"I know," sighed Rachel. "She's my roommate."

"I pity you," Fiona told her. "Thank God I have a nice roommate." Then the teacher entered. He was tall, with short black hair and brown eyes. Again, everyone stood to attention.

"Good morning, class," he said in a fairly strict tone of voice.

"Good morning, Mr Samuels," replied the class dutifully.

"Please be seated," commanded Mr Samuels. Everyone sat. "Take out your copy of Macbeth. We will begin reading from the start." He assigned parts to everyone, and they spent the lesson acting out the play.

When the bell rang, and the class was dismissed, Rachel sighed with relief. Mr Samuels had quite a strict presence, and the good behaviour of the class seemed forced. Remembering what Emmy had said, she told Fiona she'd see her later, and headed over to Emmy's dorm room.

They spent the fifteen-minute break discussing the first two lessons.

"I met a girl called Fiona," Rachel told Emmy. "She seemed quite nice."

"Yeah," replied Emmy. "She is. She's a good friend of mine. Much nicer than Naomi or any of her group." They continued chatting until about half way through break, when Emmy suggested that they go and retrieve Rachel's things from her dorm room.

"Good idea," replied Rachel. "We don't want to be late." They headed across to Rachel's dorm room. Unfortunately, Naomi and Sara were already there.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Naomi sneered.

"Getting my things for next lesson," answered Rachel calmly. "I have the right to come in my own dorm room if I want to."

"This is _my_ dorm room," stated Naomi. "You're just an inconvenient temporary guest that I have to put up with."

"Gods' sake," sighed Rachel. "You don't _really _believe that, do you?" Naomi looked at her. "You do?" she continued. _Gods help me,_ she thought.

"Just hurry up and get your stupid stuff, then get out," Naomi told her. "I don't need you intruding in my break." Rachel did so, but only because she didn't want Naomi glaring at her any longer.

After that, Rachel and Emmy headed over to the French block.

"You know," commented Rachel, "someone really ought to bring Naomi down a peg or two."

"Yeah," agreed Emmy, "but she's popular and rich, and if you got on her bad side she'd make your life hell. No one wants to risk being an outcast because of her."

"That's stupid," stated Rachel. "If no one ever does anything, nothing will ever change, and she'll continue to be a stuck-up idiot forever."

"True," Emmy conceded, "but try telling that to all the people in awe of her."

"Why would anyone be in awe of _her_?" wondered Rachel.

"No idea," admitted Emmy. "No idea."

They reached the French classroom just in time, and had barely sat down when the teacher came in. The teacher was middle-aged, with short, light brown hair streaked with grey, and weary hazel eyes.

"Bonjour, la class," she said wearily.

"Bonjour, Madame Ainsworth," replied the class just as wearily.

The lesson passed slowly. Madame Ainsworth had a boring, monotone voice, and Rachel wished she'd elected to take Spanish or Italian instead. When the lesson finally came to an end, an hour later, Rachel nearly jumped with joy.

"Thank the gods," she told Emmy happily. "I thought she'd never shut up."

"Yeah," agreed Emmy. "Listen, I've got Home Economics next, so I'll see you in my dorm room at lunch."

"Sure," replied Rachel. "See you later." She left Emmy and headed to the Greek Mythology classroom. She was surprised to see Naomi and Sara sat in one corner. _Great,_ she thought sarcastically. _I'm stranded in a classroom with this lot without Fiona or Emmy to protect me._ Thankfully, the teacher arrived before they could say anything to her. The teacher was a young woman with dark hair and blue eyes.

"Good morning, class," greeted the teacher.

"Good morning, Miss Richardson," replied the class.

"Do sit down," Miss Richardson continued. "As some of you may know, this term we are studying the Iliad and the Odyssey. First, let's see what you know. Can any of you tell me how the Greeks defeated the Trojans?" Rachel put her hand up, along with several others, including Naomi.

"Ah, Naomi," said Miss Richardson. "Yes?"

"They hid inside a wooden horse and got the Trojans to take it into their city," answered Naomi."

"Wonderful," Miss Richardson praised her. "Now, can anyone tell me anything about Achilles?" This time Rachel's was the only hand.

"Yes?" asked Miss Richardson. "And could you please tell me your name?"

"It's Rachel, Miss," Rachel informed her. "Achilles became virtually invulnerable by being dipped in the River Styx as a baby, and the only place he could be injured was his heel because that was what his mother held him by. He was killed at Troy because someone managed to accidentally shoot him in the heel with an arrow." _I hope no-one shoots Percy's Achilles spot,_ she thought. _It wouldn't be good for him to die before I could see him again._

"Very good, Rachel," said Miss Richardson. Naomi was shooting daggers at her. Apparently it wasn't acceptable to know something she didn't.

Miss Richardson then asked them to open their copies of the Iliad, and went around the class asking people to read sections of it. Overall, it was an enjoyable lesson, though Rachel feared she'd made Naomi hate her even more. The time flew by, and the bell rang quicker than Rachel was expecting it to. She gathered up her things and left to find Emmy before Naomi could confront her.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I have never ridden a horse, or been taught etiquette, or had any sort of instruction in archery, so please forgive me if it sounds like I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Rachel found Emmy in her dorm, sitting on her bed, in tears.

"What's wrong, Emmy?" she asked gently.

"Another one of Naomi's friends was in my Home Ec class," Emmy explained in between sobbing. "She's called Rebecca and she put my saucepan in a dangerous place and then the teacher thought it was me and then she shouted at me!"

"Aww, Emmy," Rachel consoled her. "Don't be upset. _We_ know it wasn't really you, don't we?"

"I suppose," admitted Emmy grudgingly. "But the teacher doesn't, and that's what's upsetting."

"Don't worry," began Rachel. "I'm going to do something about Naomi and her friends. They won't be laughing when I've finished with them."

"Rather you than me," said Emmy, cheering up a little, but still upset. "They'll make your life like living hell."

"Hell or no, _something_ needs to be done about them," Rachel insisted. "Come on, let's go and eat."

"Yeah," agreed Emmy. "Food sounds good." They left the room to head to the food hall.

Lunch turned out to be spaghetti bolognaise with extra parmesan cheese. It was delicious, and Rachel made Emmy laugh by slurping up the spaghetti, even though it was unladylike and if a teacher caught her she'd probably be told off. By the time they'd finished eating, you could barely tell that Emmy had been crying, except for a slight bit of redness around her eyes. Even so, Rachel made up her mind that tonight she would confront Naomi about her and her friends' behaviour. After collecting Rachel's things for the afternoon from her locker, the pair headed back to Emmy's dorm, and spent the rest of the lunch hour chatting about the various ways of eating spaghetti.

The first lesson of the afternoon was Etiquette and Social Skills. Rachel was dreading this. She'd no doubt be made to curtsey, and to wear fancy clothes that were completely unnecessary, and be taught about the correct way of using a soup spoon or something equally ridiculous. As she and Emmy made their way over to the Etiquette block, she chattered to Emmy about what she thought it would be like. Emmy didn't say much to reassure her.

It was every bit as bad as she had feared. The teacher, Mrs Olivier, was an elderly woman with grey hair, cold grey eyes, and a cruel, harsh stare. They were made to change into a floor-length satin dress, and then to repeatedly curtsey to a cardboard cut-out of some aristocrat. When they finally changed back out of the dresses, Rachel sighed with relief. She headed to the next lesson, which was Riding, as soon as she possibly could.

Once she arrived at the riding stables, Rachel was told to go and change into her riding equipment, then pick an unclaimed horse from the stables and lead it to the field where the lesson was to take place. Emmy was not with her, as she had Fencing instead. After putting her riding gear on, she wandered over to the stables and examined the horses. She settled for a handsome-looking gelding with wonderful black hair. The sign on his stable door claimed that he was called Streak. She took his rein and led him out to the field. The riding instructor gave her a set of tack, and she fitted it to Streak. She was then instructed to mount, and did so. It felt a little strange after riding on Blackjack, but she soon adjusted. She and the other girls who had chosen Riding, including Fiona, spent the lesson proving that they could do basic things such as get the horse to walk and trot.

The final lesson of the day was Archery. Rachel was looking forward to this- after all, Apollo, her patron, was the god of archery. After dismounting from Streak and taking him back to the stables, she quickly ran across to the archery range. She put on her archery safety equipment and went to where the instructor was stood. She was told to select a bow and a quiver of arrows from the wall at the back of the room. She took her time selecting them, eventually deciding on one that she thought even Apollo would be proud of. She then lined up next to Fiona on the line facing the targets. (Emmy was not taking Archery, and had instead opted for Dance.)

"Hey," she greeted Fiona. "How's your day been?"

"Good, thanks," replied Fiona. "I had Textiles this morning. I finally managed to sew a line of stitches straight enough to be acceptable to Miss Haverly. It's taken me years to get that good. Yours?"

"Fine," Rachel told her. "I had Greek Mythology. I really love that subject."

"Enough chitchat!" the instructor cut in. "Let's get on with practising archery!" He strode along the line of students, making them fire at the bulls eye one by one so he could judge their current level of competence. Fiona went before Rachel. She shot fairly well, in that she managed to hit the target where many of the others in the class had missed completely. "That's quite good," the instructor commented. Next it was Rachel's turn. She pulled back the bowstring, aimed, and let the arrow fly. To her surprise, it hit the ring just outside of the bulls eye. "Was that good or just lucky?" wondered the instructor, who had short black hair and grey eyes. "Go again." She did so, adjusting her aim slightly. This time it hit the bulls eye. _Apollo must be partially guiding my aim,_ she thought. _Thank you, Apollo._ "Very good!" praised the instructor. He looked at her critically. "Looks like I've found this year's star pupil! What's your name, miss?"

"Rachel Dare, Sir," Rachel told him.

"Well, Rachel, I hope you're still this good next week. Well done!" With that he moved on to the next girl in the line.

After he had been through the line, he gave the signal for them to practise freely. Rachel continued to do well, with all arrows within one ring of where she aimed them. She was just beginning to enjoy herself properly, when suddenly the bell rang to signal the end of the final lesson of the day. The instructor, whose name was Mr Jefferson, wandered over to her.

"Hey, Rachel," he asked her. "How would you like to join my archery squad?"

"I'd love that, thanks," she replied. _Ha, _she thought to herself. _Let's see how that goes down with Naomi. Thank you, Apollo! Thank you so much!_ She removed her archery equipment, left the archery range and headed back to her dorm to confront Naomi.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you to the people who reviewed anonymously. I would have sent you a PM, but obviously I can't.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Do I really have to repeat this at the beginning of each chapter?

Rachel strode confidently towards her dorm room, musing over what to say to Naomi. In the end she decided she'd make it up as she went along. She reached her room, and opened the door. As she expected, Naomi was there, along with Sara, and several other girls, one of which must have been Rebecca.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Naomi, glaring.

"Do I need a reason?" she shot back.

"Like I said before," began Naomi, "this is _my_ dorm room and you are only here by sufferance."

"Try telling that to Miss Williams at reception," replied Rachel. "See how she takes it."

"Oh my God, you actually know the receptionist's _name…_ you are so funny. N0w get out before I make you."

"No," stated Rachel defiantly.

"_What_ did you say?" replied Naomi threateningly.

"I said no. And I meant no. It's time to stop this reign of terror you and your friends seem to have established over the students here."

"Why you little-"

"You know," Rachel interrupted, "you could actually be pretty if you stopped glaring for a minute."

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Naomi in outrage. "I told you NEVER to insult my prettiness! You'll pay for that, Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare!" Rachel just smiled innocently, and then turned on her heel and left the room to go and find Emmy.

Emmy was sitting in her dorm room, chatting to Fiona.

"Hey, Rachel," greeted Emmy. "Where've you been?"

"I've been talking to Naomi," Rachel admitted.

"What did you say to her?" asked Fiona.

"I basically said that I wouldn't leave my own dorm room just because she wanted to," explained Rachel. "Then I insulted her looks."

"Really?" asked Emmy. "She'll so have it in for you now. No-one insults the way she looks."

"Yeah, she seemed pretty mad at me," said Rachel. "And that's an understatement. She deserved it, though."

"Probably," conceded Fiona. The trio settled into doing their homework, until an hour later, at six o'clock, it was time for tea.

They made their way down to the food hall, where an assortment of sandwiches, soup and cakes was being served. Naomi and her friends were, unfortunately, already there. Rachel collected a simple cheese sandwich and a slice of chocolate cake from the serving table. She'd barely sat down with Emmy and Fiona when Naomi marched across to her.

"People who insult me don't deserve chocolate cake," whispered Naomi as she snatched the cake from Rachel's plate. She marched back over to her own table with the cake in hand. Rachel looked at Emmy and Fiona.

"I told you so," said Emmy. "I said she'd make your life hell."

"I'm not phased," claimed Rachel. "I knew I could expect this sort of thing."

"Yes," conceded Fiona, "but this is only the start."

Emmy cut in, "The last girl who insulted Naomi was driven out of the school within a month because she couldn't face the treatment she was given."

"Well, we'll just have to hope that I don't give in as easily as that girl, shan't we?" Rachel told them.

"This girl was pretty confident before," stated Fiona.

"I'm not her," insisted Rachel. "I've faced worse things in my life than Naomi." Emmy and Fiona glanced at each other, not entirely sure they believed her.

"I'll hope for your sake that that's true," Emmy told her.

After dinner, Rachel decided she'd like to check out the school's library. Emmy said she didn't go in for the sort of books they had, but Fiona agreed to take her there.

"It's mostly romance novels and etiquette guides, but they have a little subject-specific literature too," she explained.

On arriving at the library, Rachel discovered that this was mostly true. She thanked Fiona for bringing her to the library, and insisted that she could go and look at whatever she wanted to look at. She then wandered through the shelves to the Greek Mythology section. She took out a copy of the Iliad and of the Odyssey, because Miss Richardson had insisted that the copies they were using in class be kept in the Greek Mythology room. She discovered there were also a couple of books in Ancient Greek, which she discovered that she could read. _Must be the Oracle part of me,_ she thought. She took one of those out just for good measure.

Just as she was leaving the library, she bumped into Naomi coming the other way. Naomi glared at her down her nose.

"Look at the pathetic little Rachel," she sneered. "Carrying an armful of books in Ancient Greek! Who the heck reads books in _Ancient Greek?_"

"I do," stated Rachel. "What are you doing here? Reading cheap romance novels? I doubt your brain can handle anything else." Naomi growled and shoved her into a wall, causing her to drop her books on the floor.

"How long will it take before you learn not to insult me?" she asked, mocking. "I am going to make your life so bad it won't be worth living."

"My life will always be worth living," Rachel told her. "Unlike yours." Naomi spat at her and wandered off into the library. Rachel quickly gathered up her books and hurried back to Emmy's dorm room before Naomi could return.

"What took you so long?" asked Emmy when she got there. "You've been gone half an hour."

"Oh, nothing," claimed Rachel. "Couldn't decide between two books, and I'd have gone over my borrowing limit if I had both."

"Oh, okay," answered Emmy, though her eyes looked doubtful.

That evening, Rachel waited until Naomi was asleep before she returned to her dorm room. She checked her alarm was set, and then quietly settled in for the night, careful not to disturb the sleeping form in the bed on the other side of the room. _Gods, help me,_ she thought as she fell asleep. She really hoped the dawn would bring something good.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Since nothing's happened overnight that would mean otherwise, I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

When Rachel awoke the next morning, Naomi's bed was empty. The sound of running water told Rachel that she was in the shower. Pleased that she wouldn't have to talk to her, Rachel hurried into her own bathroom. When she reached the mirror, she nearly screamed in shock. Written across her forehead, in thick, black marker pen, was the word 'Loser'. Gritting her teeth, Rachel took out one of the make-up wipes that her mother had insisted she pack, and rubbed it across her forehead. It only partially worked- a faint black trace was still evident. _At least it isn't so obvious now,_ thought Rachel. _Maybe it'll look better after I shower._ She threw the make-up wipe in the bin, and carried on getting ready for the day.

After she'd showered and dressed, Rachel headed back in to the main bedroom, where she found Naomi. Naomi seemed disappointed that she'd managed to remove most of the marker pen.

"Hello, Loser," Naomi sneered. Rachel ignored her. Naomi continued, "I said, HELLO, LOSER!"

"Who are you talking to?" asked Rachel. "It's certainly not me, because last time I checked, my name was Rachel."

"I told you not to talk back to me!" Naomi told her angrily.

"Yeah, and I'm paying about as much attention to that as I am to the rule about not insulting your looks," Rachel replied. "See you." She quickly left the room for the breakfast hall.

Breakfast was a similar affair to the previous day. Rachel quickly collected a bowl of Cornflakes and a slice of toast, and then went to sit by Emmy and Fiona before Naomi could appear.

"Morning!" Emmy greeted her.

"Morning," replied Rachel moodily.

"What's up, Rachel?" questioned Fiona.

"Just the part where I couldn't escape my dorm room without talking to Naomi."

"Aww, Rachel," consoled Emmy. "You know you shouldn't let her get to you."

"I know," agreed Rachel. "But when you wake up in the morning to find 'Loser' written across your face in marker pen, it really kills your good mood."

"What!?" demanded Fiona. "How could she do that to you?"

"I really don't know," said Rachel, shaking her head.

The lessons that morning were pretty similar to the previous day's lessons, except that Naomi was seeking her out actively to bully and humiliate. In English, she pinched Rachel's copy of Macbeth, so Mr Samuels yelled at her for not having her book, when in fact it wasn't her fault. At break, it took her almost all the available time to get her belongings from her locker because Naomi was impeding her progress. She then discovered that in her haste, she'd forgotten to bring her French exercise book, so she had to spend the whole of French working on paper, which would have to be copied up in the evening. Greek Mythology, which should have been heavenly, was more like hell. Naomi deliberately seated herself directly in front of Rachel, so she couldn't see what was being written on the board, and persisted in blocking Rachel from Miss Richardson's view, and in putting her own hand up whenever Rachel raised hers, so that Rachel was never asked to answer a question. Naomi also took Rachel's copy of the Iliad, so that she couldn't follow what was being read. By lunchtime, Rachel was thoroughly miserable. She headed straight to Emmy's dorm room, where she hoped she'd be safe from Naomi.

"Aww, Rachel," Emmy said when Rachel had explained what had happened. "How on earth are you going to stop this?" Rachel felt a familiar feeling stirring inside of her. _Oh, no,_ she thought as she blanked out.

-----

Emmy was sitting on her bed at the start of lunch, when Rachel walked in, looking thoroughly distressed.

"What's the matter?" Emmy asked her. Rachel explained that Naomi had been plaguing her all morning. "Aww, Rachel," Emmy continued after she had finished explaining. "How on earth are you going to stop this?" Suddenly Rachel doubled over, as if in pain, and then stood up ramrod straight. When she spoke, it sounded really weird, like there was three of her.

"_The seer will learn that it's not cool_

_To insult the uncrowned queen of school_

_But capture with a hidden eye_

_The truth behind the pretty lie._

_The secrets that become exposed_

_Will cause the queen to be deposed._

_When broken is her iron rule_

_Peace and love will fill the school."_

After that strange outburst, Rachel collapsed again, and then returned to normal._ Okay, _thought Emmy. _What the heck just happened?_

-----

Rachel opened her eyes and found Emmy looking down at her, concern in her eyes.

"What _was_ that, Rachel?" she asked warily.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Rachel told her. _Apollo, help me,_ she thought desperately. "What exactly did I say?"

"What do you mean, you don't know what you said?"

"If I did, would I be asking you?" Rachel pointed out.

"Good point," said Emmy. "Something about a seer, and about truth bringing down a queen." _Well, the seer's obviously me,_ thought Rachel. _The queen is probably Naomi._

"Okay," she told Emmy. "You mustn't tell anyone about this, you know," she murmured. Emmy looked at her. "I mean it," insisted Rachel. "Please? For me."

"Well, okay," said Emmy doubtfully, "but if it happens again…"

"Just leave it, please," pleaded Rachel.

"I'm leaving it!" insisted Emmy. "I'm just concerned for you, that's all."

"Really, there's no need," Rachel assured her. "Now, how was your morning?" Emmy spent the next few minutes telling Rachel about the delicious pie she'd made in Home Ec, though she kept looking at her with concern. After that, they went to find Fiona so they could eat. Rachel really hoped that Emmy could forgive her for being strange. She really didn't want to lose one of her few normal friends.

A/N: I apologise if the prophecy is not very imaginative or not quite in the right style. I had to make it fit my intended plotline, you see….


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I'm really getting fed up of writing this now.

The afternoon's lessons went fairly well. Naomi wasn't in any of her afternoon classes, so Rachel was able to concentrate on learning instead of worrying about Naomi. She didn't do too badly in Etiquette, and Emmy didn't treat her any different than previously, which was a relief; she also made a few improvements to her riding style, and the archery instructor continued to sing her praises. In fact, she got so wrapped up in her lessons that she almost forgot about Naomi.

After archery had finished, she was wandering back to Emmy's dorm room when she passed a tall girl with dark hair that she recognised from Etiquette.

"Hey," called the girl. "Aren't you the one that insulted Naomi?"

"Possibly," Rachel answered evasively.

"You know," the girl told her, "you really shouldn't have done that. No-one insults Naomi and survives. It's social suicide. Her daddy's the richest man in New Hampshire. If anyone even saw me talking to you, I'd probably be kicked off the popular people's table at lunch for a month."

"Well, thanks for the warning," Rachel replied, though she didn't mean it. "I'm perfectly capable of thinking for myself, you know."

"Whatever," muttered the girl as she walked off.

Rachel had thought it had been strangely quiet that day.

A short while later, she arrived at Emmy's dorm.

"Hey, Emmy," she said as she arrived. "Hey, Fiona."

"Hey," they answered together. The trio got to work on the day's homework, and, after they had done that, began discussing Naomi.

"We really need to do something about her," insisted Fiona. "It's not right for her to treat you so badly."

"I know that," answered Rachel. "The question is, what?"

"We could insult her some more," suggested Emmy.

"No, that would only further aggravate her," replied Fiona. Suddenly Rachel had a brainwave.

"Hey, guys," she began, "why don't we put up hidden cameras in my dorm room? Then we can film her talking to her close friends and see what she's really like behind the mask she shows to all the people who think she's popular, and maybe even catch her bullying me."

"You know," cut in Fiona, "that's actually not a bad idea."

If Emmy registered the similarity of this idea to what Rachel had said in her prophecy, she didn't show it.

After dinner, they set about finding a suitable camera to use in their plan. They eventually decided on the camera on Fiona's mobile, because it was a subtle colour that would easily blend in with a dorm room ceiling, it was fairly compact, it could film for a long time, it had a long battery life, it allowed the video to be edited, and Fiona rarely used it. They set it to the correct setting, and then Rachel slipped it in her pocket to position later that evening. They then decided to watch a movie, and, after managing to decide on _The Princess Diaries_, they settled down for the evening.

Rachel waited until half past ten that night to return to her dorm room. By that time, Naomi was in a deep sleep, and snoring loudly. Rachel quietly tiptoed into the room, carefully stood up on her bed, set the phone to film, and taped it to the ceiling so it was pointing at Naomi's half of the room. It was a similar shade to the ceiling; only the observant would notice it, and observant was something Naomi and her friends were not.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Rachel got ready to go to bed, set her alarm for about an hour earlier than it had been, and settled quietly down to sleep.

At 5:20 the next morning, Rachel woke up to her alarm, turned it off, and quietly slipped out of bed. It only took her until 5:50 to completely finish getting ready, so she took her art equipment from her locker and headed to the library to do some painting until it was time for breakfast. Unfortunately, Naomi caught her at the breakfast table, stole her toast, and threw milk on her, but Rachel wasn't too disheartened- she'd get her own back later, after all. The day as a whole was pretty similar to the previous one- the morning was hellish because of Naomi's constant attempts to make her submit, and the afternoon was better because of the lack of this. Rachel gritted her teeth whenever Naomi approached her, secure in the knowledge that she'd get what she deserved.

That evening, whilst Naomi was in the library, Rachel, Emmy and Fiona went back into Rachel's dorm room and removed the camera from the ceiling. They took it back into Emmy's dorm and began the slow process of watching all the footage to find the best part to use. They skipped through and deleted the part from the night before, because it only contained footage of Naomi sleeping, which was useless for their purposes. Then they got to the section of footage from after she had woken up. The first part was pretty innocuous, as it featured her removing her things from her locker, and leaving the room to go to her lessons. The interesting bit started at break. Naomi, Sara, Rebecca, and another of Naomi's friends came in and sat on Naomi's bed, then started having a rather one-sided conversation.

"What do you reckon we should do today, Sara?" asked Naomi.

"I reckon," said Sara slowly, "we should go to the library and read all the Princess Diaries books."

"What about you, Becky?" Naomi continued.

"I agree with Sara," Rebecca commented.

"And you, Jess?"

"Sounds good to me," confirmed the other girl.

"Well," Naomi began, "you're all WRONG. Today, we are going to plague Miss Idiot Dare, push all the books off the library shelves, and generally be a nuisance."

"If you knew what we were doing, then why did you ask?" commented Sara.

"Are you _questioning_ my authority?" Naomi asked her.

"Er… no…" claimed Sara desperately.

"Good, because anyone who questions me can go the same way as Miss Dare," stated Naomi.

"Er… it's not that I don't want to," began Jess, "but why exactly are we doing what we're doing?"

"I don't need a reason!" Naomi shouted. "I am Naomi Daniels! I can do whatever the hell I like! I don't need to answer to anyone!"

"Er… sure, if you say so," replied Jess meekly.

"I do say so!" Naomi exclaimed. "But, since you asked, it's because I'm in a mood and I feel like causing some damage!"

"Fine, good," agreed Rebecca before Naomi could get too mad. "Terrorising people sounds good to me." After that, they got up and left the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

"This could be good," Emmy commented. "If we show Naomi being so controlling, then people may start to rebel against her."

"Then again," put in Fiona, "they may not. Though the fact that she clearly wants to cause trouble could turn quite a few people against her."

"What do you think, Rachel?" asked Emmy.

"I think this isn't strong enough," sighed Rachel. "We need to carry on watching the film to see if we can find something better. Believe it or not, there are actually people who think it's _cool_ to cause trouble."

"I suppose we _could _watch it through anyway, just to check," conceded Emmy. "After all, the worse the evidence, the better the results will be."

Suddenly, they heard a distinctive chatter coming along the corridor.

"Naomi and her friends," whispered Rachel, looking panicked. "Sara must want something from her locker."

"Quick, hide the phone!" muttered Fiona. Emmy hastily stuffed it in her pocket, just as Naomi and her group stepped into the room.

"What are _you_ lot doing in Sara's dorm room?" Naomi sneered.

"It's Emmy's dorm room, too," Rachel reminded her.

"If I say it's Sara's, then it's Sara's!" insisted Naomi. "You still need to explain _what_ exactly you're doing here."

"We're just chatting," asserted Rachel.

"What about?" asked Sara.

"That's none of your business," Emmy insisted.

"You know, if you don't say, that just makes you look suspicious," put in Rebecca.

"Fine," said Fiona, improvising. "Rachel here was just telling us about some of the finer points of Greek Mythology."

"Which _exact_ points?" demanded Naomi.

"She was just explaining about the River Styx," continued Fiona, "and how it affected Achilles." _Wow,_ thought Rachel. _She's good._

"Okay, then, she can explain it to us!" insisted Naomi.

"Sure," agreed Rachel. _Gods, please forgive my use of past tense,_ she prayed. _I may know you exist, but she definitely doesn't. _"The River Styx was a river that ran through the Underworld. If you bathed in it, you would become invulnerable, but you had to have one part of your body that you didn't put in the river or you'd die. This part would be so vulnerable that if you were injured there you could be killed. Achilles was dipped in the River Styx as a baby, and his mother held him by his heel, so this was his greatest weakness." Naomi seemed satisfied with this explanation.

"Know-it-all," she muttered. "See you later, Loser." She motioned to her friends and they left the room.

"Phew," sighed Rachel after they were out of earshot. "That was a lucky escape."

"Yeah," agreed Emmy. "Shall we continue?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Fiona commented. They took the phone back out and continued searching through the footage. They skipped through the rest of the morning lessons, and finally they reached the footage filmed during the lunch hour. The first part consisted of a similar conversation to the previous one.

"How on earth can they stand being bossed around like that?" wondered Emmy.

"I know," said Fiona. "It never ceases to amaze me."

"Hey, guys," Rachel cut in, "listen to this." She rewound the film a little so they could see what she'd been looking at.

"So," began Naomi. "Recently, I've been a bit bored with knocking things of bookshelves."

"Does this mean we get to read Princess Diaries?" asked Jess eagerly.

"NO!" shouted Naomi. "What it means is this. I've found something even more rebellious for us to do."

"Like what?" asked Rebecca warily.

"Like this," stated Naomi. She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out a packet.

"What's in there?" Sara questioned her.

"Cannabis," Naomi told her. "I need something new to try, and this'll do perfectly."

"Naomi," said Rebecca calmly. "Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?"

"I'm _Naomi Daniels_! I can have cannabis if I like!"

"Okay," Rebecca told her, "but I'm not having any."

"Nor me," agreed Sara.

"I just want to read Princess Diaries," insisted Jess.

"More for me, then," stated Naomi. She put the cannabis back into her pocket, and turned the conversation to other subjects.

Rachel stopped the video.

"Oh my God," stated Fiona, shocked. "Why the heck would she do that?"

"She's Naomi Daniels," explained Rachel. "She thinks she can do what she likes and get away with it."

"Well, then," decided Emmy. "It's time for us to show her she can't."

"So what's the plan?" asked Rachel.

"We take the video to a staff member," Emmy explained. "They watch it, see the cannabis, and Naomi gets expelled."

"Won't we get in trouble for filming her?" asked Fiona.

"Yes, but not as badly," stated Emmy. "We'll probably just get detention a couple of nights."

"Is it worth it?" Fiona wondered.

"Definitely," asserted Rachel. "Which of us do you think should hand the film in?"

"We should all go together," stated Emmy. "After all, we all thought of the idea."

"Actually, technically, Rachel thought of it and we agreed with her," Fiona claimed.

"I think," began Rachel, "that I should go by myself. That way, we won't all get in trouble. After all, like Fiona says, it _was_ my idea."

"Okay," conceded Emmy. "But if you need us, we'll be here to back you up."

"I'll hand it in tomorrow lunchtime," decided Rachel. "I'll have enough time then. It's getting late, so I can't really do it now."

"In that case," suggested Fiona. "I'll keep the phone until tomorrow. I'm the only one who doesn't share a dorm with one of them."

"Good idea," agreed Emmy. "To success?"

"To success," Fiona and Rachel repeated.

A/N: Sorry if my depiction of the River Styx is in any way inaccurate. I've returned my copy of the fifth book to the library, and so was relying on Wikipedia.


End file.
